Knights on Ice — In Just 14 Seconds

The Golden Knights outshot the Rangers 17-7 in the first period last night. Then the roof fell in at T-Mobile in front of 18,236.

“We played really well for the first ten minutes,” Mark Stone said after the game. “The chances were there. We bury one or two of those and it’s a completely different game. Funny league. You win some that you deserve to lose and you lose some that you deserve to win.”

By those words, it appears Stone believes that the VGK didn’t deserve to lose last night’s game. I disagree 100%. You can’t play 10 minutes of the first period and expect to win a game in the NHL, no matter who your opponent is. And last night that opponent was a team they embarrassed just 6 days ago on its home ice. But the team that played New York last night wasn’t the same team.

In the last game of their 3-game road trip, against the NY Islanders, the VGK sucked it up and tied it late in the game to get a point. They deserved to lose that game and were lucky to salvage a point out of it. Last night, they showed no tenacity, no determination, and no speed, which was about as fast as the traffic on 1-15 on a Sunday night heading back to Los Angeles.

The fact is that they did outplay the Rangers in the first 10 minutes of the game, but in a matter of 14 seconds, the Rangers scored 2 goals on their 3^rd and 4^th shots. They scored the 3^rd goal on their 12^th shot and the 4^th goal on their 13^th on Malcolm Subban. The 5^th goal was scored when a pass from behind the net hit Brayden McNabb’s skate and found its way behind Subban, who obviously didn’t have a good night. The matchup of backup goaltenders was a clear win for the Rangers.

The point streak of 5 games for the VGK was snapped last night. So were the goal streak of Jonathan Marchessault and the point streak of Alex Tuch. The 10-game streak of no goals scored for William Karlsson continues and Paul Stastny has gone 21 games without registering an assist, which for a centerman on the 1B line is a problem.

Max Pacioretty had an astonishing 9 shots on goal in last night’s game and Shea Theodore had 6. The Rangers had only 2 players with 3 SOG. The reliable VGK penalty-killing unit gave up 2 PPG on 5 attempts and the VGK power play went 0-4. Subban gave up 5 goals on just 25 shots for a miserable save percentage of .800.

The Rangers’ backup goaltender, Alexandar Georgiev, heir apparent to replace sure Hall Of Famer Henrik Lundqvist, was excellent in net. It wasn’t even a contest. Georgiev’s 5-0 shutout was his second shutout in his last 4 games. He had a 33-save shutout against the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 30 and is 3-1-0 with a .974 save percentage in his past four starts. The Rangers have a solid backup goaltender who is ready and able to assume the #1 spot when Lundqvist calls it quits.

Vegas is 1-2-1 in its past four home games. Last night’s shutout was only the 3^rd time the VGK have been shut out at T-Mobile in 98 regular-season games played at T-Mobile.

If you’re wondering why Malcolm Subban played last night when Marc-André Fleury returned to the team on December 4, Coach Gallant explained it. “I would like Fleury to get more time in practice before he returns to the starting lineup.”

Fleury hasn’t played since Nov. 23. Based on last night’s performance, I think that time may be as soon as tomorrow vs. the Chicago Blackhawks at T-Mobile. The Vancouver Canucks sit only 1 point behind the VGK and have played 2 less games, while the Calgary Flames, who have won 4 games in a row, are now only 1 point behind Vegas and have played 1 less game. Things are very tight in the Pacific Division.

The VGK’s past dominance at T-Mobile is missing. They actually have a better record on the road than at T-Mobile: 7-6-3 at T-Mobile, 8-6-2 on the road.

Cody Glass received a hard dirty elbow to the side of his head from a player with a tendency to cross the line a lot. Brendan Lemieux wasn’t penalized on the play that left Cody lying face down. Glass had to be helped off the ice, as he wasn’t capable of skating on his own, and never returned to the game. The next time Lemieux was on the ice, he was challenged to a fight by William Carrier, who’s had only 2 previous fights as a VGK, but obviously felt the need to come to the aid of Cody Glass. Ironically, Ryan Reaves was also on the ice, but Carrier stepped up. There was no clear winner of the fight. My guess would be that if Reaves stepped up instead of Carrier, I would most likely be talking about a TKO for Revo. 

My 3 Stars of the Game: Alexandar Georgiev (38 saves in the 5-0 shutout), Artemi Panarin (1G, the game-winner, 1A), Jacob Trouba (1G, 1A on 25:03 of ice time, the most among both teams)

Next game is Tuesday vs. Chicago at 7 p.m. at T-Mobile.

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